rockpainter Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 Sorry in advance for the long post.. I've been running my 5.5 gallon pico reef for 4-5 years now. I do 1 gallon water changes each week using RODI water from LFS and instant ocean salt. I have birdsnest, Duncan, candy cane, zoas, chalice, acans, ricordea. I have a yellow clown goby, blue legged hermits and a nerite snail. Recent additions (2-3 weeks) include frogspawn and an emerald crab. The tank was looking great last week and my last regular water change was that Friday. On Tuesday I noticed my coral looked stressed and did an extra water change. On Wednesday I was horrified to find my birdsnest completely bleached and all LPS receded and with skeletons showing. Immediately tested the water... Temp 83 (usual), SG 1.025, pH 8.2, Ca 520 (high, but usual), ammonia/nitrite/nitrate all 0, phosphate 0, kH 8. I figured maybe the temperature had spiked earlier that day since it got pretty hot where I live. I removed the lid and set up a fan for cooling. I did another water change Wednesday and a third on Friday. I was expecting things to have perked up today since it's been cooler, but all the coral look just as bad if not worse. My fish/inverts look fine. I'm at a loss to what's wrong and devastated that my corals are dying in front of me! Any ideas as to what else could be the problem? Should I continue to do daily/every other day water changes? I'm not currently running purigen or carbon but have ordered both. Representative pics attached... Quote Link to comment
lkoechle Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 Have your nitrates always been zero? Nitrates at 0 aren't good. You need it a little dirty for your corals unless you're running ULNS which is a totally different method of husbandry. considering your fish and inverts are fine, that'd be my guess. Quote Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 my guess is on the temperature. 83 is pretty hot already so just a few degrees higher and it could have caused a crash. it may have cooled back down by the time you tested the water. 2 Quote Link to comment
rockpainter Posted May 21, 2017 Author Share Posted May 21, 2017 I admit I don't test as often as I used to, but whenever I have tested nitrates are zero. I do have algae, so I assume there are nitrates and the coral/algae is sucking it up so it reads zero on the test. I guess I have to blame the weather... It's just so weird because it's definitely been that hot outside if not hotter in the time I've had the tank and I actually had the a/c on this week! I'm also concerned that things are still looking worse instead of better even with temp controlled for over 24 hours... But I guess I just need to be patient. I know it will be months for the birdsnest to come back, but I guess I expected my LPS to show some more immediate improvement. Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 Temp at 83 is high. No higher than 81 as you get to 82 its pushing it. If there had been a spike in heat it may have gone higher than 83. Lps should take a few days to come back but sps take a lot longer. I'd definitely try to get nutrients in the tank. Do you feed the corals with 0 nitrates? Quote Link to comment
rockpainter Posted May 21, 2017 Author Share Posted May 21, 2017 I feed the fish 5-7 days a week with new life spectrum pellets and the corals a few times a month with coral frenzy and/or frozen mysis or cyclops. I used to spot feed much more but cut back due to algae issues. I still actually have algae issues...so I take 0 nitrates with a grain of salt. Do you think it's worth increasing feeds with the coral in their current state? Or should I wait to see some improvement? Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 I feed once a week with reef roids. If any if the corals are open, it can help. Quote Link to comment
Superdave Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 While there is little you can do to reverse the crash, I would advise against an over-reaction in a panicked attempt to "fix" things as this could do additional damage. I would start doing a (more) regular, but small (10%) water changes and test your levels each day. 1 Quote Link to comment
rockpainter Posted May 25, 2017 Author Share Posted May 25, 2017 Thank you all for comments. As an update, my candy cane and Duncan have both been showing more polyp extension over the past few days, and my softies look back to normal. It seems the worst is over. I set up a fan for when it gets hot again later this summer, and plan to feed the tank more often. One other question...My bleached birdsnest is starting to get film algae growing on it.. is there anything I can do about this? I'm pretty sure I still see polyps/tissue on the skeleton so I don't think it's completely dead. Gently brush it with a toothbrush? Leave it alone? Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 Gently brush it. Algae usually develops on dead skeleton 1 Quote Link to comment
Alexraptor Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 On 2017-05-21 at 2:49 AM, ninjamyst said: my guess is on the temperature. 83 is pretty hot already so just a few degrees higher and it could have caused a crash. it may have cooled back down by the time you tested the water. The temperature itself isn't really that hot at 83. If the temperature is causing problems it would more likely be due to the lower oxygen content that warmer water has or if the temperature swung very rapidly. I've had temperatures up at 85-86 degrees for brief periods of time with no ill effects, and tropical seas actually get warmer still in the summer months. 80-83 is actually my year around target range. Quote Link to comment
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